Kill Bill: Vol. 2

What I liked about "Kill Bill" is partly suppressed in the second installment. The first film was primarily about action, which was absolutely captivating, but I fell in love with the movie mainly because of its exquisite B-movie style, perfected by superb visuals, characters, and their dialogues. Tarantino abandoned the action and put the characters and dialogues at the forefront, which resulted in a different but not worse second film, rather even better. He elevated action choreography to art. Listening to the dialogues is truly a delight because they are never boring, even during relatively calm passages. The conversation with Bill and its outcome is an absolutely mesmerizing scene and the highlight of David Carradine's career. This is what Tarantino is capable of. Just like he is capable of making films that are hard to forget. (01/08/2014)

While the first movie was just a showcase of Tarantino the director, this time the story gets a word in. Uma no longer has to strut her kung fu stuff, so she no longer looks like a paddle come to life and, most importantly, Quentin has moved closer to Sergio Leone. Which greatly benefits the movie (and Tarantino). A massive benefit! ♫ OST score: 4/5 (04/21/2022)

Quentin Tarantino is very original and his directing is apparent every single second, whether it's the craftsmanship (black and white passages, animated parts, etc.) or the content. More than bloody killings, he focuses on what makes a film a film (dialogues, characters, etc.) and he does it well. Uma Thurman is excellent, David Carradine is a superb villain, and it's all very stylish. (05/03/2004)

A star better than Vol 1. It has more good dialogues (which is where Tarantino traditionally excels), the story is told in a more interesting way (the first part is pretty straightforward, unlike the second) and there’s less action (which I don’t think it’s bad). The scene with Pai Mei, who loves to constantly fix his moustache, is hilarious. (06/17/2010)

It’s amazing how this revenge feels different all of a sudden; more physical, more human, more patient. I believe Volume 1 and 2 would probably work better as one opulent three-hour movie, because I still don’t quite get the point of dividing it into two such formally different parts, but the second one is closer to the screenwriting exhibition of an adored dude able to turn a simple premise into an unpredictable but also somewhat bizarre and deeply human story. If I called the first one porn for geeks, this one would be geek for porn. Quentin takes traditions from western, kung-fu and revenge movies and other well-known narrative tropes and enriches them with his inimitable moment of surprise, which here is absolutely sudden and shocking, foreshadowed in very carefully built dialogues. This time he lets the heroine suffer without putting her against fighting machines, but against people who are probably blaming their past. It’s a pity that Tarantino doesn’t work with human emotions very well – one of the key twists is revealed at the end of the first volume, which weakens the brilliant game with the surprise, and the dialogues with Bill, one of the most interesting characters, are written mostly for the viewers and not for an inner climax. Volume 2 is better than Volume 1 for its more thoughtful arrangement of the episodes and how it works with the characters, whose fates are beautifully intertwined, without needing to remember the first part, but it’s still too deep into its own self-awareness to make you fall on your ass and shed a tear when the closing credits start rolling. 85% (10/29/2018)